Food originating from animal sources may often contain certain infectious microorganisms. Some of these microorganisms are resistant to temperatures which are less than the boiling temperature of water, but will perish if the food is cooked at a higher temperature. For example, an organism that is responsible for about 75% of the cases of food poisoning in the USA, Escherichia Coli, will be killed at about 75 degrees centigrade. A virulent variant, Coli 0-157 was responsible for mass infection of over 8000 people in the city of Sakai, Japan. The source of the infection was identified as partially cooked beef liver. The food in this case was cooked in a central kitchen and distributed to a number of municipal schools. Apparently, the dining room supervisor had not been aware of the fact that the food was improperly cooked, and that the required cooking temperature was not reached.
Had the food been cooked at a temperature that kills the bacteria, such massive food poisoning could have been avoided.